I am a dabbler in home automation and thinking about starting to get into lighting. I have heard mostly good things about the Philip Hue line and wanted to see what peoples thoughts are about it.
Our main current automation are a large number of Google Smart Speaker and Arlo video doorbells. Everything is working now on the Google ecosystem which I think Philip Hue will connect with. Our house is 100 years old which means that our possibilities to automate are lower than a new home since we have very few overhead lights, power outlets are at a premium (we have lots of power strips running through the house).
We are thinking about doing smart bulbs in some lamps which we can leave on and a chandalier. I think the biggest issue will leaving things always powered on.
I would urge you to have an electrician sort out your electrical issues first.
I helped a friend gut and rewire his kitchen and besides not being grounded, the wiring was very poorly done. I told him it was a miracle he didn’t have a fire.
Their microwave would flip a breaker if anything else was on in the kitchen. I traced the circuit to a pull string light in the basement. The ENTIRE kitchen circuit was passing through a rusty old screw terminal on the light fixture. The wire’s sheathing had completely melted back exposing 4" of bare hot wire.
Don’t trust that old wiring at all. And if you can’t afford to fix it asap, at least stock up on smoke alarms and have an escape plan.
The wiring isn’t poorly done just old. With houses this old all the bad ones are already gone. The only one’s left are working fine.
Electrical code and common practice has changed and improved drastically since ungrounded wiring was the norm.
I’ve worked on many houses and each one was a potential disaster waiting to happen.
Just sayin. Be safe.